


will you stand by me? (cause I'm built to fall)

by m_feys



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cigarette smoke, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Intimacy, One Shot, hopeful, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-24 22:34:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20713625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_feys/pseuds/m_feys
Summary: Mind over matter, I'm in tatters thinkin' about herTaste my disaster, it's heavy on my tongue





	will you stand by me? (cause I'm built to fall)

**Author's Note:**

> The title and description are from [Mind Over Matter (reprise)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buvWBOZTfdc) by Young the Giant which is the song I was listening to as I wrote this. That's the mood for this fic.

The scenery changed a lot. They went wherever they pleased, after all. Sometimes, people came and went. Sometimes, people were lost. Sometimes, they were abandoned. Things always changed. But some things stayed constant.

"She was just a girl, you know," Mick murmurs between drags of her cigarette. Kali stays at her side with her arms folded. She hates the smell of the smoke, but she likes Mick's presence more. She's as steady and grounding as she always is.  
She's trying to comfort her, in her own reserved way, but Kali shakes her head. "No."  
She sees the woman turn to look at her from the corner of her eye. Kali only stares ahead at the skyline, resolutely ignoring the burn of tears in her eyes. She's probably noticed the shine of her eyes, but Mick doesn't say anything; she never was the pushy type.  
"No, she was so much more than that. She was like me," she says. _She was my sister_, she doesn't say.  
"Yeah," Mick agrees, letting the smoke curl up into the night, and that's the end of it.

They don't ever touch in front of the others. It's not that it's a secret, they wouldn’t care. Most of them already know. It's just not something either of them is inclined to.  
Mick's a stone wall around most people, especially anyone outside of their small circle. For Kali it’s too overwhelming to have anyone but Mick's eyes on her in moments when she lets her guard down. It's a special kind of intimacy between them, the kind that nobody else gets to see.  
Instead, it's Mick's arms around her in the dark. It's slow careful kisses, and whispered breath. It's the taste of smoke in her mouth and steady hands on her skin. It's falling asleep together, and soothing motions if there's a nightmare. It's not every night spent together, but it's enough to become ritual.

After Jane— after she left them; there had been one exception to that rule. They stood tucked together in the corner of the convenience store, with only the shelves between them and the other three to give the illusion of privacy. But, Mick had touched her anyway.  
She had smoothed back the hair at the side of her face, with long thin fingers skimming through her thick hair. Kali remembers staring at a stain on the tile and feeling like seeing herself there had only been a vision she'd planted in her own head. But she also remembers being aware of Mick's every move, even when she hadn't been looking at her.  
Gently, she took hold of her chin, blunted nails resting on her cheek as the woman steadied her face. She lifted the wet wipes she had grabbed to clean away the smear of blood dried to her upper lip.  
"There," Mick said, voice so low and so quiet as if this could be only them right here. She ran her thumb over her upper lip, trailing where the blood had been. The last reminder could be gone. Kali understood perfectly well. She didn't mean for the well of tears that came once more to her eyes and tried to blink them away. But Mick didn't pull away at the show of weakness, instead, she leaned further in. Wrapping her up in her arms and leaning her head on Kali’s, her cloud of hair pressed close enough that Kali could smell the familiar musk of cigarette smoke and the sharp tang of gasoline on her. She let the tears fall down her cheeks while Mick held her securely, saying nothing. They didn't always need to speak to be understood.  
At this moment, Mick should be outside, getting their gas. Instead, she's here, she's doing this. Kali reaches for her too then, grabbing fistfuls of her flannel. For a moment, she feels so solid and so whole being held in her arms, even when her heart’s been broken more times than she thought it could break.

"Kali, now!" Mick does not raise her voice often. Only in high tension moments. Kali understands her panic, but they had nothing to worry about. And if they did, that was just part of the thrill. She wipes off the blood dripping from her nose, letting it soak into her dark sleeve.  
Around her, they whoop with joy at getting away scot-free once more. Then, where her arm is resting on the console, a hand moves to moves to wrap around Kali’s fingers. She looks over sharply to see Mick, grinning, with eyes on the road ahead. As if this wasn't anything out of the ordinary.  
But then, she supposes it isn't. Even if everyone in the world could see, it wouldn’t change. This was only theirs and would always be. Kali laces their fingers together, gripping her hand in return. Some things change, all the time, and some things were constants. Certain, reliable, and unfailing.  
Mick was one of those things, and she always would be.

**Author's Note:**

> <3 lmk if you enjoyed please, I'd really appreciate it


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